


Day 15

by galvelociraptor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Pre-Slash, Sleeping Potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 18:32:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16372829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galvelociraptor/pseuds/galvelociraptor
Summary: “Welcome to Potente Potions, can I help you—” Draco stopped in the middle of his spiel.“Potter?”The other man certainly looked like Potter—if Potter’d been drinking for about 10 days straight, hadn’t had a bath in as much time, and had lost about a stone that he could ill afford to lose. He looked terrible.





	Day 15

The charm on Draco’s desk rang softly, letting him know that there was someone at the door of his shop. He sighed, put a stasis charm on the experimental potion (which had been giving him fits anyway), then went out into what Pansy jokingly called ‘The Showroom’.

“Welcome to Potente Potions, how can I help you—” Draco stopped in the middle of his spiel. “Potter?”

The other man certainly looked like Potter—if Potter’d been drinking for about 10 days straight, hadn’t had a bath in as much time, and had lost about a stone that he could ill afford to lose. He looked terrible.

“Oh, hey Malfoy.”

Draco blinked.

“What are you doing here?”

Potter stared at him.

“You look like you need about 15 hours of sleep and three square meals, not a potion.”

Pansy laughed at him from where she was filling mail orders in the back of the store. Draco regretted hiring her, because she never answered the door. Or the phone. Or the firecalls. 

Draco shot a glare at her, then turned back to Potter.

“What are you looking for, anyway?”

“Dreamless? Can you do it?” A note of desperation had crept into Potter’s voice.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I can do it. Any halfway-decent Potion person can do one. Hell, I bet your Granger could even do one. They’re not that difficult, Potter.”

“I’ve built up an immunity,” Potter mumbled into his stubble.

“You’ve what now?”

Draco knew that it wasn’t impossible to build an immunity to certain potions, and if a quarter of the rumors going around Britain were true about how much magic was in Potter’s veins, it was likely he had developed a quicker and nastier immunity than typical magical folks.

Those who were blessed with much were damned thrice so, Draco heard in his mother’s voice. Granted, she’d been telling him stories about the Fair Folk and their ‘gifts’, but it still applied.

Still, Dreamless Sleep should have given Potter at least a few months of peaceful sleep with no troubles.

“How long have you been taking the potion?”

“Off and on for years now. About two weeks most recently.”

“Shit, Potter, this is why you need to pay attention in Potions class. Dreamless Sleep is cumulative.” Seeing Potter’s blank look, Draco explained: “Just because you stopped doesn’t mean your resistance goes back to your original state.”

Potter sighed. “Is there nothing you can give me?”

“Well I’m sure there is, but it’s not like I have something that strong just lying around,” Draco said sarcastically.

“Listen, Malfoy, I really just want to sleep. I asked around and heard you were the best Potion Master in business. Now can you help, or not?”

Draco preened internally, then registered Potter’s words.

“I’m willing to bet I can develop something for you that’s non-addictive and non-cumulative, but it’s going to take experimentation. Time.”

Potter’s eyebrows drew together in anxiety. If Draco didn’t know any better (did he?), he’d have thought Potter was on the verge of tears.

Draco relented. “I have something I can give you for very short term use, but you absolutely cannot take it for more than three nights.”

“I’ll take it.”

*

“So, you’ve got an opportunity to do a ‘saving people’ thing right back, huh?”

“Don’t know what you are talking about, Pans.” Draco said, absently.

“Oh, right, and you’re researching Dreamless Sleep derivatives and ingredients for fun.”

Draco colored slightly.

“As a Potions Master, this is an excellent test of my skills and an opportunity to make some money. If I can find an alternative to Dreamless that works well, I can market it and possibly patent it.”

“True, but that’s not why you agreed to help.”

Draco sniffed.

“That’s it? That’s all the argument you’re going to give me.”

Draco turned back to his work.

“Ughhhh, at least admit you have feelings for him. I could SEE the way your eyes just lit up when you saw Potter, and he looked like a cold bag of shit. The only explanation I can come up with is Feelings, with a capital ‘F’.”

“There’s certainly an ‘F’ word I’m thinking of, Pansy my dear,” Draco replied absently.

*

“Are you currently working?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Potter snapped.

Draco cocked an eyebrow at him, before saying, “I’ll need to have you here for most of the work day to test your reaction to ingredients and basic potions. Are you free?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Potter replied, rubbing the back of his head.

“And that’s why you can’t take that potion for more than three nights. It increases irritability like no other potion I’ve ever seen.”

Potter stared at him.

“Truthfully, if you feel yourself becoming even worse after tonight, you might want to discontinue use.”

Potter paled.

Draco gestured to the work bench that ran alongside the length of his lab. “Ok, here’s a seat for you. Did you bring a book?”

“No?”

Draco rolled his eyes.

“You may look at my Quidditch magazines, but please bring your own reading material tomorrow.”

Potter smiled at him.

“Thanks, Malfoy.”

Draco shrugged. “Now, let’s get started.”

*

Although Draco had worried about working with Potter in close proximity, it had actually been quite pleasant to have someone in the lab to pass the time with. Potter seemed to have grown past the angry, angsty Gryffindor of his youth, but Draco couldn’t really say for sure, as he was careful to keep conversation topics limited to light things—the weather, food, Quidditch, pets.

On more than one occasion, Draco would look up and see that Potter had pillowed his arms on the lab bench and laid his head down for a nap.

Draco wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but in the following days, Potter’s spark and life seemed to be slowly reanimating his dead features and dull eyes.

*

(And then Draco discovers a potion that will work for Harry, but they also realise that Harry sleeps just fine if Draco’s in the room with him, and they end up cohabitating which Draco (and Harry) both like A Little Too Much, and then there’s a mixup of some sort and Draco leaves (or maybe has a work thing), but then a day later Harry stumbles back into Potente Potions all wild-eyed and is like ‘I totes understand if you don’t feel Like That about me but please for the love of Merlin come back so I can get some sleep’ and Draco’s like ‘feel like what’ because he’s been falling in love with the dork who likes various kinds of toast at odd hours of the night, and depending on the time, various toppings, who enjoys reading Muggle romance novels and writing sarcastic notes in the margins, and who introduced him to Star Wars. Draco used to think he was attracted to power, but with Harry in his life, he’s not so sure that’s true any more.)

**Author's Note:**

> One of the days of fic from my NaNotWriMo 2016. (I called it NaNOTWriMo because I had no intention of writing 50K, and indeed I didn't.)


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